Management training in ELT organizations is often inadequate. New managers are in severe need of training, especially for tasks which are non-pedagogical, yet they operate in a milieu where there are few opportunities for support compared with colleagues in mainstream education. The purpose of this case study, a rare evidence-based contribution to discussions of ELT management, was to evaluate the experiences and perceptions of four new managers involved in an initial management training course in the private sector. Four main themes emerged from interviewing the new managers. First was appreciation (managers needing and valuing training); second, the transition from teaching (confidence in those skills which were transferable from the classroom); third, anxiety (the ability of training to reduce stress levels); and fourth, role confusion (a mismatch between different expectations of performance that was not resolved during training). In general, managers valued the training but felt some content areas more pertinent than others.